ANOTHER OLYMPIC SCANDAL

Nigerian Bobsledder Simidele Adeagbo Alleges Gender Discrimination at Beijing Olympics

Adeagbo's lawyers claimed in a letter to the IBSF that there is “an insidious and willful gender disparity in the number of sled spots made available for men and women.”

Nigerian monobob and skeleton competitor Simidele Adeagbo has alleged that the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) is guilty of gender discrimination in allocating spots to men and women at the Beijing Olympics. In the monobob, women are allocated 20 spots, and in the two-person bobsleigh another 20. Meanwhile, the four-man bobsleigh event allocates 28 spots for men, and 30 in the two-man. Adeagbo’s lawyers claimed in a letter to the IBSF that it is responsible for “an insidious and willful gender disparity in the number of sled spots made available for men and women” and that Adeagbo was excluded from the monobob event by a single spot. “I have made so much progress just seeing how I've grown and develop in the sport, and I want to be right there competing with the best in the world. And so it's really frustrating to have that cut short, not because of anything that I did or any, you know, lack of talent or skill, but simply because the rules in place are unlawful and discriminatory,” Adeagbo said.